My Second Class

She was fuming with much appetite, munching on Mister Potato and balancing her notes and books in another hand. She paced the pavement, the road and the steps with heavy black shoes that goes tap, tap, tap as she stomped on her own footprints. Her glasses were wet, of tears and of the pouring rain. She took out her mobile phone from her suit-for-adults handbag and started to jammed it, yelling to the other person on the phone. Everybody along the road and the shops was starting to pay attention to her sulking gestures. I saw disappointment and slight fear.

She was a first year HELP student taking Business course. I presumed she just hit the age twenty. I was in front of Watson, standing with my 2 black bags and waiting for RapidKL bus. When I first saw the girl, she was walking up and down the road, crossing to the opposite and strutting back to my side of the road whenever a bus came. The rain kept on pouring, buses came every fifteen minutes and her hopes continued to rise. Three buses came in half an hour period and all them could only take in a handful of passengers. A huge crowd gathered as soon as one after another bus left.

After the third bus left, leaving behind many wannabe passengers, I decided to hail a taxi, if there was one. That was the moment I saw her breaking down. Tears started to break and her frustration was so loud that she was wailing and shouting like a mad person. I had to take my bags and hurry towards her. A guard approached her as well. He left as soon as I comforted her with slow words and asked her where she wanted to go, whether she had any money and told her that she could come with me as I was traveling in the same direction as her.

It was not until after half an hour and walking back to my hostel, which was a distance away in the midst of the rainfall, that we managed to get a cab to KL Sentral. She was so much calmer as soon as I waited for a cab with her. I was glad that I managed to console her and calm her with relevant questions and share any information that I know about HELP University College. I guess I could empathise with her in moments like this when one will feel very lonely, cold and tired, and couldn’t wait to head home as soon as possible.

In the midst of taking my bags at Watson, I left my London umbrella behind, not realising that it was missing until I was in the cab. Today, I lost an umbrella but gained happiness that will always stay with me. I guessed I learned the need to help people unconditionally from the traveling experience in Europe.